.357 Wadcutters Question????

[Terryrm1-03]

A buddy of mine gave me 500 Wadcutters .357 Diameter. Most 38's are .358 or alittle larger.
Why do they make these bullets .001 smaller?????
Thanks for your input.
Will they shoot OK??? You really need a super tight bore for them is my guess!They just might get melted down I guess, just wanted to hear some comments before I do.
Thanks Terry

[Bret4207]

First off, did you measure then with a reliable tool or go by the box? If they are hollow based they may work and they may well work at lower speeds anyway. A slightly undersized boolit at low speeds can give decent shooting, it depends on the gun and load.

[Shiloh]

+1 to Bret

I used up some freebie commercial wadcutters and semi-wadcutters that were undersized.
Did it by running them very slow and they gave good accuracy, better than I expected.

I originally destined them for re-melt but thought what the heck. They were usable commercial boolits.

Shiloh

[Leftoverdj]

A buddy of mine gave me 500 Wadcutters .357 Diameter. Most 38's are .358 or alittle larger.
Why do they make these bullets .001 smaller?????


Now that's a really good question, and I can only speculate:

1. The maker did not know what he was doing.
2. The maker did not care how his bullets performed.
3. ".357 bullets are supposed to be .357, dammit."
4. "I might get sued."
5. "That's what sells."

[kir_kenix]

Sometimes unsuspecting reloaders will order them this way as well. A good friend of mine once ordered several thousand cast boolits for his own .38's, and specified the sized diameter to be .357. Ooops...live and learn I guess. He's probably shot them all up by now, and they seemed to shoot just fine in the 750-800 fps range.

My guess is that something similar happened here too. Most commercial reloaders that I've run into wouldnt make that kind of mistake.

[Shiloh]

Sometimes unsuspecting reloaders will order them this way as well. A good friend of mine once ordered several thousand cast boolits for his own .38's, and specified the sized diameter to be .357. Ooops...live and learn I guess. He's probably shot them all up by now, and they seemed to shoot just fine in the 750-800 fps range.

My guess is that something similar happened here too. Most commercial reloaders that I've run into wouldnt make that kind of mistake.

If they would cycle, they make work in a 9mm. Not the first time 9mm boolits were sized at .357.

Shiloh

[Terryrm1-03]

I did measure them out of curiosity. Yes they measure .357. I wish they were hollow base!
And I tried them w/2.9 grs of bullseye, in my 8-3/8" S&W 586. They were terrible! I'm still wondering why they were made. They have to have a purpose. I got checking online and they were made by Missouri Bullet Co. And they still have them and advertise them.
Terry

[jdgabbard]

If they would cycle, they make work in a 9mm. Not the first time 9mm boolits were sized at .357.

Shiloh

I doubt they would cycle, as they are WCs...that doesn't seem like they would cycle well.

My advice, just shoot them. See how they do. I wouldn't bother with trying to recast them. They may shoot great! Depends on load and size.

[MissouriBullet]

I did measure them out of curiosity. Yes they measure .357. I wish they were hollow base!
And I tried them w/2.9 grs of bullseye, in my 8-3/8" S&W 586. They were terrible! I'm still wondering why they were made. They have to have a purpose. I got checking online and they were made by Missouri Bullet Co. And they still have them and advertise them.
Terry

Hi Terry -

I realize this is a response to an old post, but I just now saw it.

Our PPC #1 DEWC bullet is designed for PPC shooters who normally have custom "tight" bores, slightly smaller than the .357 standard for production .38 guns. So they want bullets at .357 rather than the customary .358 dimension. These bullets are a poor choice for guys with regular .38's as a result.

We do make that bullet at .358 upon request, however.

Anyhow, just an explanation. The. 357 size is a "PPC game specific" bullet designed for guns with smaller bores.

Brad